Drum weir



1935- D. J. M coRMAcK DRUM WEIR Filed Jan. 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 5 2 9v Nb INVENTOR DANIEL J MC. COR MA ATTORNEY Aug. 27, 1935. D. J. M CORMACK 2,012,671

DRUM WEIR Filed Jan. 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. INVENTOR' DANIEL J. MCCORMACK WM W ATTORNEY Aug. 27, 1935. D. J. MGCORMACK DRUM WE I R Filed Jan. 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 M Y MR M T O W ma T Vc T NM A D. J. M CORMACK DRUM WE I R Filed Jan. 8, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 DANIEL J.

a I E g BqBY Fig. 5

INVENTOR Q CORMACK ATTORNEY conditions efserVice;

Patented Au 27, 1935 [DRUM WEIR 'f Daniel J. McCormack, York; Pa. 1 :QApplieation: January 8, 1935, sc em tic ljiepiaims (c1.- e1+2sy This invention relates-to dams and more. particularly to the ype -of damsz knownias drum Wei-rs or roller gates;

Drum weirs or rollergates usually comprise a body adaptedto be positioned :across a stream or water course 1 for 'the purpose .of' damming up the'water, and these devices are furthermore adapted-to be moved bodily from: a 'damming V position to another -position in which the water is permitted to flow unimpeded down stream.

I Also; 'the ma-in body portionof va drumtweirl'may have one or more aprons or iiaps secured'thereto and extending therefrom for the purpose of increasing the slamming height of the device.

The present invention is d ire'cted to the detail constructiomof-the main bodya-portion and the apron-or'fiap of a drum-weir or roller gate.

Anobject of the invention isato provide 7 an improved drum weir or' vroller gate in which the main body of thedrum: andthe: apron "orfflap extending therefrom have a number of circular seams or joints. Another object of the invention is l to provide an improved'drum weir or roller gate havingaa minimum length of all; joints, and particularly a minimum length of circumferential joints. 'Another 'obiect of the-invention is to vprovide an improved 1 drum weir or roller gate-Lhaving: a minimum number-of sections of skin plate comprising the shell of the=drum and apron 'ortfiap.

Figure 1- is ari -elevationlookingwt the up stream-sideoff a-drumme'ir -01" roller gate constructedaceord ing to the present invention and installedbetween two piers;

Fig. 2 isnn-enlargedview of the right hand end-"of athe deviceshowni immgt l; the pier be 'ing shown in section; v

Fig; '3 is a crosssecti'on taken on the line l-+3 of *Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of theplates used in constructing "the she'll of the drum and "the/apron which is attachedte*thekdrum and depends therefrom, thereinforcing- :struts, etc., being omitted;

Fig. 4 is aview showing -the 'arrangementiof the drumy-and o. Fig.6 is a perspective of one of the platesused the. plates of the; main body} of ,flthe 'drum jhe meansh-forsecuring theqa'djoining edges bf the,

plates togetherbeing omitted; 7 pl Fig. is; an: 1enlarged section of; a -portion.;of

in forming the shell of the drum;

' zTheimain body portion of a-drum weiriior roller.

gate :may consist of; acylindrical shell ifo liinedi Of a plurality or arcuate plates, and in cases where, l0

theidrum is provided with aprons or;.fiap s,;;the latterma'y, consist of plates.

- ,Inconstructing drumlweirs, the shells ,or drums constituting the mainbody-portionsthereof} haye beenimade in varying sizes andheretofore itdiu'as i beenithepractice of the manufacturersand-pro-V ducers to construct thBdBViCBs -With the 1 steel isheets curved or bent elengthwise modeof constructing :the shells or drums-,iaswell as .thej'aprons or flaps; attached :thereh: results in a: great. many circumferential joints. or seams 1 when the plates are assembledtogether, espe'cial T 1y ,1 in :the longer devices, land; a correspondingly fewer number-- of I longitudinal seams for Joints,

-;-Furthermore, it iswell known thatthenstres sesi at :the circumferential joints materially exceed the stresses at the longitudinaljoints of adrimi j or cylindrical; .shell-likewdevice". Therefor in order to have: a strong-andirigid 'stnuct'ure,@,it

haszwbeen necessary std-employ 'muchl 'stronger 39 v fasteningymeans along the circumferentialvioiiits nit-seams thanzalong the longitudinatioints'or seams. p Since it is much easier and-less -expensive,..t0

,join together thestraight'a butting ld giiiildiiial 35 edges of the :several sheets of a large .she'll .,-or I drum, than the curved circumferential-edges, .it is obvious that the labor costsof the" latter iwork greatly exceed the labor costs -of,the; miner work. a

r i ,1 40 Also, by employing a preponderance otrcircumferentialjoints or; seams in--oonstructin :.a

weir,- ashas been the vcustom. in thepasuthe total number of feet of circumferential jointspr' to-be formed :will greatly exceed thentotallnumo ber of -feet of longitudinalJointsorseams-which also adds. greatly to ;the, manufacturing icosts. v Therefore it is of-advantage tosocons itllctja drum WBiI'Ethat'thB number and lengthof circumferentialjointsor seams lis -less thanthemumber or. length of :the iongitudinal jointssorsealms so that the manufacturing anderecting costs wilhbe -corresD0ndi-ngly reducedybelow' the costsiji pro ducingisimilar-t devices in :the mannerrheretoior e employed; and ,.=the:iollowing; is,,a ;-de'scription; qf

i attained.

While in the following apron is used in referring to a portion of the drum weir structure, it is to be understood that such terminology also refers to the portion of the drum weir structure which is sometimes called the flap, since both of theseyportions of the structure of a drum weir are usually arcuate in cross section and are usually :constructed in sub-- stantially 'thes'ame manner. In fact, in many instances, drum weirs may have both faprohs and flaps, the portions of the drum weirs constituting the aprons'being the arcuate-shaped wing portions which extend or depend from the main body of the drums and have lower edges for seating on the sills of the masonry portions of the dams, and the portions termedtheFfiaps being the arcuate-shaped hinged leaves rnounted on the upper side of the drums and adapted to be swung away frorn' and towards 1 the drums; and when swungaway from the drums constitute mear'is for increasing the damming height thereof. Referring'to the drawings and especially to l ss. 2, comprise a cylindrical shell- 16, which may. have anv arcuate apron lfl extending therefrom While "the present instance a single apron I1 is'shown,

. itwillbe understood thatmore than one apron (sna can be mounted on the shell" l5" without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The shell of the drum i6 is, as shown'in Figs. 1 2,,composed of end sections 18 and I9, and a plurality'of intermediate sections 2!]; 2i and 22..

fendfs'ections' I8 and I 9 are, partly disposed in niches 23 and, formed,-respectively, piers and 26,-constru'cted of reintorced'con'crete or any other suitable masonry material; The bottom of the niches 23 and 24 orfare inclined, as indicated at 21, Fig.2, so

as topreventithe accumulationof water or ice in and"extending ibetweenthe piers 25 and 26,'is'a sill '28; also constructed of reinforced concrete or "any other suitable masonry material, as shown i i s. a'andfs. i 7

1f. Mounted respectively, on the end sections 18 iand I9,1are circular tracks 29'and-3D, which tracks'brigage; respectively} tracks 3| and 32 jmount ed'in the'niches 23 and 24, respectively.

The tracks 29' and are each formed with gear teeth 33 and, respectively, which teeth arein meshing relationship'with teeth'35 and 36 formed on*the tracks 3| and 32, respectively.

' jI'hfe" arrangement of the tracks and gear teeth are :0ri :'-en of a chain 31.

{for guiding and retaining 'ji 'ndicatedby broken lines in Fig 1 and these elen'ents'ontheTight endof th'e'drum are clearly shown in Fig. 2. a v

The end section I9 is at the driven end of the 'um'weihisaid end section having ,fixed thereto V The chain 31 is adapted jt'o'be drawnor pulled upwardly by suitable hoistin 'niechanism not shown) andthereby' roll the ldruinupwardly. Vice versa, said chain, when "played out by the hoisting mechanism, permits the jdrum to roll downwardly towards its'lower "or damming position, inwhich positionthe lower ie'dgeoi the apron li rests against the sill 28, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The drum rolls on the :tracks 3'! and-Bland the gear teeth 33 and 34, fwhi'ch are always in meshing relationship with "the teeth'35 and 3ES,"respectively, serve as means H v I the correct vertical relationship o'ffthe two ends-0r the drum.

description the term and 3, the drum weir or roller gate may respectively;

Ying'on bed-of the stream or water course The end sections l8 and I!) of the drum are circular in form and may be constructed of rein- Iorced plate steel in any suitable manner.

The segments of plate steel used in forming the cylindrical shell of the drum l6 and also the apron H, are rectangular in form and in sizesup to the limit of facilities for making the plain steel sheets and the limit of facilities for fabricating the drum and the apron.

The intermediate sections 20 and 22,01? the drum'constitute' thelmainbody O lfi shell oiitl ie dam, and said sections are formed from sheets of plate steel which are fabricated in the manner to be hereinafter described. It will be appreciated that the" plate. steel shell is reinforcedby means of struts, bracesetc. However, since the reinforcing means forms/no part of the present invention,

'- such reinforcingimeans has been omitted from the drawings and detail description.

As show'n'in Fig. 4 which represents a specific installation for 1.design of a drum-weir, eighteen sheets of plate-steel are USBd' lD forming theintermediate sections 20, 2! and: Hofihe-drum. These plates are 'numberedfrom to 58 inclusive, onFig. 4, of the-drawingsthe sheets'numbered M; 00415 inclusiveybeing usedin forming; thesection 25, the sheets-numbered 4lqto 52 inclusive beingused in forming' 'the 'sectiony2I; and the-sheets numbered 53:130. 58inclusive--being,:usedin forming'the section.22. ;;;Ohvi0usly; other quantities of plates can beuseddependingnpon the size oi? thedrurn weir, but in drum weirs of the, type herein-described it is most-economical and expeditious to use a minimum number of, circurnferen tial joints, because .t-heipstress at the eircumfer ential. joints'materially exceeds the stress; atvv the longitudina1 joints.1- Therefore, the costof manu- "facture of a drum with a large numberof circumferential'joints is-much; greater than thecost of a .drum having aminimum number of circum: ferential joints. A .iewer' number of pieces of plate steel will be required to form adrum hay--v ing a minimum number of circumferential joints, and hencea fewer numben-of pieces ,means less work in the shop and less work'at'the site of erection q I x j H In order to have tight .fittinggand rigid joints between'thelplatesusedin iormingjthe drum, the marginal edges of each plate are machinedsmooth and straight-so that when the plates are assembled together in ,thearrangement shown in Fig. 4, the abutting edges of. theplatesywill fit .tightly together-: as ,to form-what is. known as butt joints". This is, very important in the; finished structure, since the drum will be stronger than in the. :case whereirough; and unfinished edges are placed together.;

Further-more, by first machining the-edges of the-platessmooth, all ofv the plates canfbe made the same size, so thatwhen said plates areassembled together and-arranged-in-the manner shown inFig; 4,-rall. of. the longitudinal joints 59, 60, GI, (32,: 63*and 54 .will be, resp ctively, in substantially uniform. straightlines, and all, of- 1 the crosswise ortransverse joints 5. 66,- 16'! and ,fi8 'will liein substantially uniform straight'planes. I V w When the drum is iormed, the marginal edges 65 of the plates 4| to 46 inclusive, abut the inner "circumferential edge of the -end section I B a-nd the marginal edges 680i: plaltesiiii to 58 inclusive, abut the inner. circumferentialcedge of theiend section longitudinal edges of plates 46,. 52: and. 58, aloutythe longitudinal edges of plates 4|, 41 and 53, respectively, as inseams.

However, according to the present invention,

each steel plate is bent or curved crosswise or transverse of its longitudinal axis, as shown clearlyin Fig. v6. ,The bending or formingmay be accomplished'by-means"of rolls, or in any other k no'wn manner. v

ll'fterthe plates'have thus'been formed, stiffen ing'ineansysuch ns-"channel bars 18 are fastened tothe'undersidethereof'by any suitable means,

such as rivets 'H, as'shown in Fig.5. j v

Wher'i' the curved platesareassembled together therewill beapluralityof circumferential joints;

'as'shownin Figs."l'and2,"and a plurality 'of longitudinal joints, as shown in- Figs. 1, 2, 3 and '5. These joint-s may be secured together in any known manner, such as by riveting, welding, etc

One form of riveted joints is shown in thefpres ent instance (see Fig. 2) but it is to be understood that since the invention relates generally to-the manufacture of devices along the lines of tanks, boilers, etc., any known method of fastening joints'of plate steel together may be employed whemde'sired, since thisinvention does not pertaintto the manner of joining. the'plates together but relates more particularly to they manner of constructing a. drum weir. V T

j Asshownin Figs. 1, 2,'and 5,butt straps l2 and 'TBfmay 'Ue' used "along the longitudinal' joints, 'and'said' butt-straps maybe secured. in place by a single row-of rivets 14f oneach side of the longitudinal jointa'asshown best in Fig. 2.

Assho-wn'bestinFigs. 1, ,2, and 5, the circumferential joints may be fastened together by means'of butt'straps I5 and butt plates it, and at the points where the circumferential joints intersect the longitudinal joints, additional plates 'lTmaybe employed. The b-utt'plates l5, butt plates '15;a'nd"the plates 711 are somewhat wider than 'the butt"straps l2 and 13 hereto-fore ,r e "ferred toyso as topermit'the use 'of double rows of rivet'sflB'on eachsidecf the'circmnferential jointsp'as's'hown inFig'; 2.

Due to the bending movement incurred longitudinally of the drum as the resultof the pressure of the water thereagainst, the stress at the circumferential joints is considerably greater than the stress at the longitudinal joints, hence in order to construct the circumferential joints strong ienolighto withstand the stress thereagainst it is necessary to employ double rows' of rivets f8. -Of coursewhen other securing means me'used for joining'the plates together it will be-obvious thatthe circumferential joints] wifl have to :be constructed doubly stronger than the longitudinal joints in order to have a strong and .rigid shell'structure. Y I

aWhen rivets and plateslareusedfor joining'the crete 5111 23 and thereb "joints between the plates. or the shell i "and aprons of the type hereiiides l t t eemer? th a s ei me It? sealing the "jointsas will beflhdefs d. Since the'apren H'forrnsfa chip of {the drum 'we fiiiti'isofjadvan age t' the apron with asffew f circumferential verse joints as possible; p f

Asjshown in'F '1, theiapron lle'irte pier 2 5 to/pier and fapi oh theupstreams; e'jof the damgf'Ilige I V composed of 'a'pluralityof acetates hi'ch fabricated and then "assembled ftog th' "manner substantially similar "to 't manner of fabricating andassem t ,7 of the druin'l'fi. Of course, withfs'omefdesigiis f drum weirs it may be possible toenipl'oy "a ctilfi paratively few number of sheets of plate steel for constructing the apron I1.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the apron I1 is shown as being composed of eight sheets of plate steel, numbered in Fig. 1, 81, 88, 88, 90, 9|, 92, 93 and 94', respectiv These plates are first fabricatedin" heretofore "describedfthat is, their'jed 'chined smooth and straight; aii th formed therein. Thefiplates ;afeth curved crosswise orv transversebf th nal axes tar-the desiredjcurvature. flflh utti' longitudinal edges of the plates *of the strainers then secured together by means of butt straps 79 and 8t and rivets algae shown in Fig. 3. The upper longitudinal edge 82 of plates 81, 89, 9| and 93 is fastened to the drum I6 by rivets 83. The transverse or circumferential joints of the plates e are secured together by butt straps 84, as shown in Fig. l, and thes'e straps may 6'- ether the manner heretofore ae'smb lower edge of plates- 88, 1805182 and-'8 apron l'l-has ase'aling strip lld which to rest on an I -beam 86 embeaaea n a the "y provide for preventing water from pa dam: when the latter is inden 7 pos as'showninFig'. a: j While in the present instanc'e th'e apron shown as having a longitudinal joint "xtnding with the length thereof,1itwill beunder -'cl in many instances th'e'vvidthtoft'he a such that a single platecan be ed in lilfqf uie airsorates sn ssi "89; sure 9 @1331 9'4, shoWninFig. lg sinceit may b jbo'ss lie to utilize plates wide enough to extend joint 82 to the lowerfi'd'ge portionf r1 sealing strip 85. In thislattencase;prov "g the drum is extremely long, several such la "5 may be required inforderfto constructfa which willextend the entiredistance'from totheo ther of a dam. Howleveryin I, H the-number of transverse joints willbe a mumand such number of joints will of co less than the number of joints hertof when theplatesv were fabricated in t manner, ,In Fig. 1, the transverse joint" of th comprising the apron are shown'in 'stagg I lationship to. the circumferential, joints f shell of theidrum. *Su'ch anarrangeme'n of plates' off'th'e apron 'ma be "desirable; easier to assemble the parts at the'sit'e 1 non and ias'ten' them t gether;

Sincefthe'greatest poiritsj'of the" circumterential joints; h s

to materially/reinforcesuchcircuhifern l'afl oints is 7 joints exceeds thetotal length and numbercf the This is desirable, since a stronger and more rigid drum weir structure will .so thatthe same will be strong enough towithstand the'imp'osed stresses. For this reason, when the drums'andaprons have been constructed in the- .manner heretofore customary, in which a large number 'of'fcircumferntial joints were employed,'the cost ofconstructing these joints added considerably to the cost of the dams. It is well known inwthe art, thatit is far cheaper to conratio of the intermediate circumferential joints to the intermediate longitudinal joints of the drumsandjaprons was from depending upon the overall dimensions of the drum weirs.= According tothe present invention, the ratio h'asbeensubstantiallyreversed, and in drum'weirs constructed according to my invention the ratiooffthe len'gthof the intermediate circumferential joints to the length of the intermediate. longitudinal'joints will be from It is therefore apparent that by my invention a much stronger and more economical drum weir structure can be constructed, due to the fact thatthe number of feet of circumferential joints between the plates used in forming thedrum weirsare considerably less than the total number of feet-of longitudinal joints, and since the longitridirialjoints can be formed and constructed much cheaper than the circumferential joints, the importance of the invention is readily apparent. From the foregoing it will be noted that the transverse joints.

be had than isthe case when the plates are bent the other way or lengthwise, in which latter case the length and number of the transverse joints will exceed the length and number of longitudinal joints.

illwhile one illustrative embodiment'of the invention has been described in detail, it is not the interitionyto limit its scope to that embodiment or'. ,otherwis' than by'the terms of the appended claims,

Having lthus'described invention, what I '1. A drum weir comprising a body composed of a plurality of plates, each plate being substantially straight lengthwise and being curved transversely of'it's length.

2. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical 'body composed of a plurality of plates and an apron fastenedto said body, said apron also being composedof a plurality of plates, each plate having its major dimension lengthwise of the weir and its minor dimension transversely of the weir.

3; Adrum weir comprising a'cylindrical body composed of ta plurality, of substantially similar rectangular plates, each plate having its major total {length and number of the longitudinal dimension lengthwise of the weir, andits minor dimension transversely of the weir, ;all of the longitudinal joints between the plates being, ar-

ranged in substantially straight lines, and all circumferential joints between the plates being ar- :1

ranged in substantially straight planes, theedges of said plates being butted together, and means for fastening the abutting edgesof the plates together.

4. A drum weir comprising a plurality of arcuate plates fastened together along their adjoining edges, said plates being arranged with their edges lengthwise and crosswise of the weirstructure, the'ratio of the length of the circumferential joints between the plates to the longitudinal joints being from Y 5. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical body composed of a plurality of substantially similar rectangular .plates, said plates being assembled together with all longitudinal joints between the plates arranged in substantially straight lines,

and all circumferential joints between the plates arranged in substantially straight planes, the

1 ratio of the length of the circumferential joints to the length of the longitudinal joints being 6. A drum weir comprising a cylindricalbody composed of a plurality of intermediate sections and opposite end sections, said intermediate sections being formedfrom, plates, each plate being substantially straight lengthwise and being curved transversely of its length, all of the longitudinal joints between the plates being arranged in substantially straight lines, and all of the circumferential joints between the plates being arranged in substantially straight planes.

'7. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical body composed of a plurality of intermediate sections and opposite end sections, said intermediate sections being formed from plates, each plate being substantially straight lengthwise and being curved transversely of its length, all of the longitudinal joints between the plates being arranged in substantially straight lines, and all of the circumferential joints between the plates being arranged in substantially straight planes, the ratio of the length of the circumferential jointsto the longitudinal joints being from 8. A device of the class described comprising a,

cylindrical body composedof a plurality of .in-

termediate sections and opposite end sections, said intermediate sections being formed of a plurality of substantially similar plates of rectan gular form, each plate being bent crosswise'its length to provide an elongated arcuate sheet, all longitudinal joints between the plates beingar ranged in substantially straight lines, and all 13. A drum-weir comprising a main body porcircumferentialjoints between the plates being tion and an apron connected to the body,'said arranged in substantially straight planes and means for securing the adjoining edges of the plates together and to the end sections. I

9. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical body composed of curved plates and substantially cylindrical end sections, said plates being arranged together whereby the lengthand number of longitudinal joints between the plates exceeds thelength and number of transverse joints between '1 the plates, and means, for joining the plates together and to the end sections to provide a strong and rigid structure.

10. A drum weircomprising acylindrical body composed of curved plates and substantially cylindrical end sections, said plates being arranged together edge to edge with adjoining edges abutting, whereby the ratio of the length of the circumferential joints between the plates to the longitudinal joints between the plates is 1 1. s to and means for securing the abutting edges of the I ranged in substantially straight planes, the ratio i of the length of the circumferential joints to the length of the longitudinal joints being from g and means for'securing the abutting edges of the plates together.

12. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical body and a flap connected to the body, said body and said flap being composed of a plurality of recmeans for fastening the abutting edges of the plates together.

body and said apron being composed of a plurality of arcuate plates fastened together along their adjoiningedges, said plates being arranged with 1 G to 14. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical body and an apron connected to said body, said body and said apron being formed of aplurality of plates, said plates being assembled together with all longitudinal joints between the plates arranged in substantially straight lines, and all circumferential joints between the plates arranged in substantially straight planes at :right' angles to the longitudinal joints, the ratio of the length of the circumferential joints to the length of the longitudinal joints being from T5" to 15. A drum ,weir comprising a body and an apron connected along one edge of said body, said body and said apron being formed of a plurality of substantially rectangular plates, each plate having its major dimension lengthwise of the weir and its minor dimension circumferen tially of the weir, the ratio of the dimension of each plate lengthwise of the weir tothe dimension of each plate circumferentially of the weir being from 1 16. A drum weir comprising a cylindrical body 1 and an apron depending therefrom, said apron being formed from a plurality of arcuate plates having one edge fastened to said body, each plate being substantially straight lengthwise and being curved transversely of its length, all of the longitudinal joints between the plates'being arranged in substantially straight lines, and all of the circumferential joints between the plates being arranged in substantially straight planes, and the length of the longitudinal joints between the plates exceeding the combined length of all of the transverse joints between the plates. DANIEL J. McCORMACK. 

